Wild Fire (7 page)

Ryan giggled, then frowned. “You sound like Colin. Anyway, I wasn't talking to you.”

“Oh.” Kara blinked. “Then who were you talking to?” If she didn't get some sleep she'd be useless tomorrow.

Ryan looked surprised. “God, silly.” He smiled and closed his eyes.

K
ARA YAWNED AS SHE HUNG
fresh towels in cabin four and checked the pile of kindling next to the cast-iron stove
.

She blinked as she stepped out the door into the bright morning sun. Finally. She was done with the cabins. Crossing the wide expanse of weedy grass, she made her way toward the main lodge.

Dad and Greg were down at the barn cleaning up scraps of wood and trying to replace the door. In the distance, she could just make out Colin leading a group of horses into the repaired corral. The horses had to be exhausted.

To her right, beyond a lodgepole fence, the land sloped gently for half a mile then plunged over the banks into the Minam River. The valley stretched on for miles, separating the swift-flowing water from the Blue Mountains to the north
.

Snow still clung to the highest peaks, and Kara's breath puffed white in the cool morning air. She stuffed her hands in her pockets and stood very still. A moment later three yearling deer stepped cautiously from the thick stand of trees on her left. They crept into the meadow and began to feed on the tall grass.

The screen door slammed and Ryan charged onto the deck. “Wow! Kara, look at the deer!” He pointed excitedly as the three whitetails disappeared into the woods.

Kara shook her head. “Way to go, Peanut Brain. You scared them away.”

“They'll be back. They always come back.” He flashed a sheepish grin, then grabbed her hand. “Come on, Anne's making pancakes for breakfast.”

She let him lead her into the lodge. He could be a total pain, but she couldn't stay mad at him for long.

Ryan bolted into the kitchen, but Kara stopped to recheck the guest register her father had left sitting open on one of the tables.

A couple from Arizona, a family of four, and three single men.

Kara shut the book. Maybe none of them would be interested in line dancing and she could just practice some new two-step turns with Colin.

“You are not dreaming of clean towels, I think.”

She jumped, then returned Anne's teasing smile. “No,” she admitted, “but the cabins are done. There's plenty of kindling, and I replaced the wicks in all the lanterns.”

The cook nodded. “You worked hard. The guests will be comfortable.”

The men banged into the room, stomping their boots on the entry mat, and tossed their hats and jackets onto the rack next to the door.

“Did ya catch the bear?” Ryan hollered over the din.

“Not this time, Tiger.” Dad ruffled his hair, then turned to Anne. “Let's eat. I'm starved.”

Kara followed them to the table and grabbed a chair on the other side of Ryan. Colin sat across the table next to Dad
.

After grace, Dad poured syrup over a stack of pancakes and turned to Colin. “I know you want to track that bear,
but we've got guests coming this afternoon, and we need to be sure everything here is under control first.”

He sipped his coffee, then continued, “The Wilson kids are eight and ten. Neither one of them have ridden before.”

Colin nodded and helped himself to six slices of bacon. “I figured that. I thought we'd put the boy on Star and the girl on that older mare. If we line her up in the middle of the string, she'll pretty much go along with the rest. And Star couldn't run off if you lit a fire under him.”

Everyone laughed but Ryan. “Hey. Star's my horse.”

Kara grabbed his juice glass before he could knock it over. “We talked about that, Ry, remember? Star is yours to ride this summer, but you have to share him with the guests.”

Ryan frowned. “Then why don't you have to share Lily?”

She wanted to yank his ear. “Lily's too spirited; you know that. None of the guests could handle her.”

“So? They can too. Kara has to share, Dad. Tell her.”

Dad set his coffee cup on the table and looked from Kara to Ryan. “Sorry, Tiger, your sister's right. Lily needs an experienced rider, and we need Star for the younger kids. You'll have plenty of time to ride.”

“Not fair!” Ryan howled and tried to push away from the table. The chair stuck, but his fork and plate went flying.

Kara grabbed his arm. “Ryan!”

“That's enough, young man.” Dad's voice stayed level, but she could hear the steel in his tone.

Anne leaned over and retrieved Ryan's plate from the floor. “Kara will share Lily,” she said quietly.

Ryan stopped struggling. Kara loosened her hold on his arm and turned with everyone else at the table to stare at Anne.

“With me,” Anne continued calmly. “If we are to have fresh trout each Sunday night, I will need Lily to carry me to Otter Lake.”

Her eyes questioned Kara over Ryan's head, but Kara turned her head away. Her temper flared.
How could she?
Anne hadn't even asked to borrow Lily. Wasn't it enough that she had taken Mom's place at the lodge? She'd taken over Ryan too. She was so good at everything. Now she wanted Lily.

Kara nearly bolted from the table. Everyone was probably staring, and she was sure to be bawling any minute. But when she lifted her head, she saw the others were bent over their plates, shoveling food. And Dad was watching Anne
.

The older woman handed the plate and fork to Ryan. “The broom and dustpan are behind the kitchen door,” she said.

To Kara's surprise, he obeyed without a word.

Dad said something to Colin, who nodded and shoveled in another mouthful of eggs. Anne didn't look her way, and Kara pretended to be interested in the men's conversation.

“Anything else we need to solve right now?” Dad was saying
.

Greg shrugged. “Not on my end. Hot Shot here has the horses lined up. I'm out of here tomorrow morning.”

Kara winced at her brother's sullen tone. She wished he wouldn't talk to Dad like that, or be so rude to Colin. If it had been anyone else Dad wouldn't stand for it, but after Mom's death he'd put up with a lot from Greg and his lousy attitude.

What about your own attitude?
Kara ignored her conscience and tried to tune back in to her dad's voice.

“I appreciate your willingness to take care of things at the ranch. Be sure and radio in if you need anything. Bud Davis said he'd be glad to help with the stock.”

“I can handle it, Dad.”

“I know you can, Son.”

The trust in her dad's eyes made Kara want to be sick. She knew Greg had been drinking lately. Dad had found beer cans in his truck. How could he trust him alone at the house in Lariat? True, he'd never done anything to harm the stock. But what about himself?

Kara shrugged inwardly. There was nothing she could do about it. There was no way Greg would ever listen to her.
Things were never this mixed up when Mom was alive
. This was not shaping up to be a good day.

Colin pushed back from the table and punched Greg good-naturedly on the arm. “Come on, Ferret Face, we've got a bear to track.”

He turned to Dad. “While we're at it we'll check the river trail out past Cedar Ridge. The others are clear. We can even use the one from Pinewood Meadow.”

Dad shook his head. “I know you guys got in all right, but we won't need the Pine Creek trail until mid-July. I didn't think we should chance it with clients until then, so I didn't book any ride-ins.”

Colin grinned. “You're the boss. Let's go, Greg.” He turned and caught Kara's stare.

“You coming, Kara? It might get kinda rough, but from what I hear, Lily can handle it.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him just what Lily could handle, when she caught the glint of laughter in his eyes. Her bad mood suddenly lifted. “I can handle any trail you can, Colin Jones. I'll be there in a minute.”

She checked to be sure Ryan was helping Anne, then ran to her room and pulled on her boots.

She had Lily almost saddled when Ryan came into the barn. The mare was still fidgety from the night before, and Kara had to stop twice to calm her.

“I'm going too,” Ryan demanded. “Saddle Star for me, Colin. Dad said.”

Kara could tell Ryan was lying by the way he kept his eyes on the ground. She caught Colin's questioning glance and shook her head. She wanted to swat the little pest but kept her tone casual. “When did Dad tell you that?”

“Just now.”

Colin feigned a sudden interest in the cobweb-choked rafters.

Greg wouldn't look at her either. They all knew Dad had gone up to check the water purifier. The tanks were two miles away, and he hadn't been back.

Lily danced sideways and Kara yanked on the lead rope. “HO!” She realized how angry she sounded and lowered her voice.

“Don't lie to me, Ryan Sheridan. You know Dad didn't say you could go. It's too long of a ride and Star wouldn't be able to keep up. Besides, we might run into that bear, and the slowest one would be lunch!”

She knew it was a mean thing to say, but she felt mean. Ryan had deliberately lied to her.

“Lying erodes trust,” Mom had often said. “When you lose someone's trust, it's hard to gain it back.”

She steeled herself against the tears puddling in her little brother's eyes. “You go back to Anne. Now. We'll talk about this when I get home.”

Ryan ran sobbing from the barn.

Colin busied himself with his gelding's saddle, and Kara caught Greg looking at her, a half smile on his face.

“What?” she snapped.

Greg shrugged. “At least you didn't say, ‘Just wait until your father gets home.'”

Colin laughed, “Oh, yeah. I used to hate that line.”

Kara felt her face turn red. “Well, what was I supposed to do, let him come?”

Greg looked away, but Colin laid a hand on her shoulder. “Hey, lighten up. All kids do that kind of stuff. He'll get over it.”

If he meant to cheer her up, it wasn't working. In spite of Lily's energy and the challenging trail, the episode with Ryan left her feeling guilty, like the whole thing was her fault.

T
HE TRAIL CROSSED THE WOODEN
bridge and wound its way along the far side of the river, dipping into hollows and rising to heights far above the raging water
.

They had lost the bear tracks long before they reached the bridge. Kara suspected the ride had just been an excuse for a few hours of freedom before Greg headed back to Lariat and the guests claimed Colin's time for the summer.

She wouldn't have much free time either. Determined to enjoy what was left of the morning, she urged Lily forward, passing Colin in one of the few open spaces and racing up the trail.

She heard Colin yell, and Dakota thundered along behind her. She almost gave Lily another nudge, but they were already going a little too fast for the terrain.

She had just eased the mare into a slow canter, when Dakota moved in alongside and Colin grabbed Lily's right rein. Lily threw her head and sidestepped, nearly unseating her.

Kara pulled the horse to a halt and spun around in the saddle to face Colin. “Don't you ever do that again!” She heard her voice echo across the canyon, but right now she didn't care. “I can control my own horse. You could have gotten me killed!”

Colin backed off, but his face was red with anger. “You nearly killed yourself. There's an S-curve in the trail up ahead. At that speed you'd have galloped right into a tree.”

Kara took a deep breath, trying to calm her pounding heart. “Okay. But you could have told me. You never grab another person's reins unless it's an emergency.”

“It was an emergency.” Colin plucked his hat off his head, wiped his brow with the back of his wrist, and lowered his voice. “I just didn't want you to get hurt, okay? I won't grab Lily again. That's a promise.”